The wealthy patriarch of the Sinclair family lives in mortal fear of being buried alive because he suffers from a rare condition that causes him, at times, to appear lifeless. So, when he dies, his relatives learn that his will stipulates that nobody will see a penny unless they follow a strict set of orders which would allow for him to "return from the dead." When the relations refuse to comply with his wishes, he returns from the grave and proceeds to exact his revenge on his insubordinate kin, killing each of them in precisely the ways they most fear.